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Immigration Compromise In Jeopardy

Early this morning, the Senate voted 49-48 to amend the legislation to put a five-year sunset on the guest worker program portion of the compromise. Given the uncertainty that would give employers who hire anyone but seasonal workers, it is the equivalent of removing the program.

The Republican conservative base despises any legislation that would lead to citizenship for illegal aliens while the Democratic liberal base despises the restrictions it places on the path to citizenship and the increase in border spending.

The beauty of the compromise is that it gives most Americans what they want and isolates the people on the fringes. This is how democracy is supposed to work.

Absent from the voting was Senator and presidential candidate Christopher Dodd. Democratic Senator Tim Johnson, of South Dakota, is in rehab for the stroke he suffered last year and wasn't present for the vote. The remaining non-voting seat is currently vacant.